Hey everyone
I just updated some stuff and when I fired up Bitcoin Knots, it started re-downloading the full blockchain. I’ve got it all saved on an external drive already. How do I tell Bitcoin Knots to use that instead of downloading again? I even re-installed the software but it just skips the setup and goes straight to the blockchain download... please help!
Check your bitcoin.conf file
It should be located at /home/<your username>/.bitcoin/bitcoin.conf. If it doesn’t exist, just create it and add the necessary lines. Your external drive is probably at /run/media/<username> or /media/<username>. You can find the path from there.
Easier method to find bitcoin.conf
Just open Bitcoin Knots normally, go to settings and find the option to open the configuration file. It’s super straightforward. Once you’re in the bitcoin.conf file, add the datadir line as mentioned earlier. By default, the folder name is usually "Bitcoin" so check on your external drive for that folder and copy the path to paste it in.
Are you looking for the datadir option?
You can start Bitcoin Knots with the choosedatadir command line argument. That should bring up the setup screen, which is handy. But just a heads-up, this only works for the GUI client. Alternatively, you can set it in the bitcoin.conf file or launch with datadir=<your_path> whenever you start Knots.